Today's cosmetic and medicated hair and skin care markets are over-saturated with personal care products that are complicated and confusing. These products do not adequately cover the multitude of needs of different consumers who want to maintain or restore healthy, beautiful hair and skin. Since most consumers do not fit into just one category of hair or skin type, commercially-produced hair care and skin care products cannot treat all types of hair and skin for all individuals across the board. For example, if a consumer has fine but voluminous hair, with chemically treated ends and an oily scalp, no single commercial product can treat the combination of all such conditions. Thus, there is a need for a system and method of making customized hair and skin care products that can treat all the various unique conditions of an individual's hair and skin.
In addition to the lack of customized hair and skin treatment products, there is also a lack of customized cosmetic products. For example, Loreal has a well-known line of foundation products, but the products fail to provide an individualized approach to cosmetics other than offering foundation color. Other brands try to address customers' demand for individualized products, such as Paul Mitchell's category system, Davines' products, or even Phyto's system. However, since these brands do not adequately address the diverse needs of individual consumers, some consumers currently resort to a DIY approach by finding natural recipes on websites, such as Pinterest, YouTube, and blogs. Websites such as “Function of Beauty” and “Profile Pro” allow consumers to choose minimal customization such as color and scent online, but consumers would then have to wait days or even weeks to get the product in the mail. Even stores that offer semi-customized products do not offer high quality, organic, non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) or vegan options. Moreover, in such stores, customers often have to have an appointment to make sure a chemist is available to make the product.
Further, shampoos, conditioners, oils, lotions and other liquid toiletries are typically produced commercially in large volumes in industrial manufacturing plants. However, such commercial toiletry products often contain unwanted additives and toxic chemicals. Commercially produced shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletries on the market today contain between 10 and 30 different ingredients depending on individual hair types. The ingredients generally include surfactants, thickeners, moisturizers, conditioning agents, and additives. While not all such ingredients are harmful, some ingredients have been associated with side effects ranging from skin rashes, to breathing problems, while others have been linked to hair loss. For example, it has been reported that sodium lauryl sulphate, a surfactant or foaming agent found in nearly all shampoos, can cause allergies even in concentrations as low as 0.5%. As another example, isopropyl alcohol is a highly flammable solvent found in most cosmetics that can make the scalp very dry and cause irritation. Such chemicals have also been linked to headaches, nausea and side effects with long term exposure. Thus, it is desirable and, indeed, necessary to craft shampoos, conditioners, oils and other toiletries that do not use such toxic chemicals.
It is also desirable to produce such toiletry products based on the diagnosis of an individual's specific hair, scalp and skin conditions. For example, if the individual has seborrheic eczema, or dermatitis, which is a common inflammatory skin condition that causes flaky, scaly patches on the skin, especially the scalp (dandruff), it is advisable to use medicated shampoos that contain active ingredients that are known to combat the condition's causal agent. However, commercially-produced, off-the-shelf shampoos and conditioners not only contain toxic chemicals but are not crafted to treat the specific condition of each individual. Consequently, there is a need for a system that can produce hair or skin care products and other toiletry products that meet specific individual needs.
In an effort to craft customized shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletries for individual needs that do not use harmful chemicals, consumers have resorted to haphazardly cooking hair or skin care products at home using common kitchen tools. Although hair and skin care products can be fabricated at home on a stove top by purchasing various tools and ingredients, making such products on a stove top at home can be expensive, messy and difficult. For example, current methods for mixing granulates, powders and liquids in the kitchen are done with electric blenders. Products ranging from cakes and puddings to body butters and hair conditioners are produced using general kitchen tools. Hand mixers are currently used to combine ingredients in a pot while following a recipe. Many recipes specify that the ingredients are entered incrementally during the heating and cooling phase while stirring to emulsify. This is a time-consuming process that often does not accurately produce the desired product.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automated system to make toiletries on the spot or as needed, whether at home, in salons or at mall kiosks using natural ingredients, that is easy, efficient, fast and safe.
In addition to the need for the home production of toiletry products, there is also a demand among health care and hair care professionals for a way to produce customized products for patients and customers. Specifically, there is a need for producing shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletry products at medical clinics and hair salons (or mall kiosks) that are based on a diagnostic analysis of an individual's specific hair, scalp and skin condition. Cosmetologists, dermatologists, trichologists use a variety of diagnostic tools to analyze the hair, scalp and skin condition of patients in developing individualized treatment. Similarly, hairdressers and other salon professionals also use diagnostic tools to determine the condition of their customers' hair and scalp before a haircut or hair styling. However, even with such diagnostic analysis, cosmetologists, dermatologists, trichologists and salon professionals still have to prescribe and use commercially-made products that are not customized to the needs of their patients or customers. Thus, while such diagnostic tools are available, there is presently no system for producing customized products based on diagnostic analysis. More particularly, there is presently no system for cosmetologists, dermatologists, trichologists and salon professionals to quickly produce customized products on-site for immediate treatment following a diagnostic analysis. Accordingly, there is a need for an automated system for health care and hair care professionals to make toiletry products on-site at clinics, salons, or mall kiosks that is based on a diagnostic analysis.
There is also a need for a system to enable salon owners to produce shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletry products on-site at salons for sale to their customers. Often, for example, if salon owners want to develop and sell their own line of products, it can take weeks or even months to coordinate with a vendor or manufacturer. Thus, there is a need for a system to professionally produce specialized hair care products at salons that obviates the lead time normally required for ordering from a vendor or manufacturer.
There is also a need for a system that allows DIY hobbyists to make toiletry products at home without having to use ordinary kitchen tools. The practice of making toiletries at home has grown in recent years with the evolution of the Internet, and particularly with social media. DIY hobbyists now have access to a myriad of online DIY recipes for making customized hair care products at home with mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets. Accordingly, there is a need for a system to make toiletry products at home that is interactive with mobile devices.